This invention relates to a tone signal generation device suitable for simulating a damper pedal effect of a piano or the like musical instrument.
Known in the art of an electronic musical instrument capable of generating a tone with a piano tone color is one in which a tone of a piano in a damper pedal (loud pedal) OFF state is picked up and stored in a memory and a tone waveform thus stored in this memory is subsequently read out to generate a tone with a piano tone color.
It is know that, in this type of electronic musical insturment, the envelope of a tone which is being produced is controlled in such a manner that, when a damper pedal attached to the instrument is not ON, the tone is attenuated fast upon key-off whereas when the damper pedal is ON, the tone is attenuated gradually.
In the above described prior art electronic musical instrument, it is not possible to simulate an impression of expansion of a tone which is peculiar to a piano tone being played in a damper pedal On state. When a piano is played in the damper pedal On state in which the damper is released from strings of all piano keys, strings other than a string which has been struck by a hammer vibrate due to resonance with resulting generation of an acoustic effect which imparts the impression of expansion to the tone being played. In the prior art electronic musical instrument, however, pressing of the damper pedal into an ON state brings about change in the envelope shape of a depressed key only and fails to produce such acoustic effect of tone expansion.